Tag Archives: salmon

Gentle Readers, never has a holiday been more confusingly named or welcomed with more open arms. Hello, Labor Day, we need you. A bit of a break after the bustle of school starting, recovery from travel season for me, it’s time to roll up sleeves and cook again. How to do so without too much labor? Invite yourself to someone else’s cookout.

Tea wth the Ladies Who Lunch: China Edition

I’m bringing a dessert, or a salad, or both. But I digress. The weather is getting cooler, and more cooking ahead is possible. Seize the day, or at least the weekend, between naps.

Turmeric Tea from Samovar: Gold, Spicy, Amazing

For this week, the weekly menus are:

Weekly Menus: 9/1/2013

And the Four-Square Grocery List is:

The Four-Square Grocery List: 9/1/2013

Which all means:

Sunday: Rotisserie Chicken
It’s been too long. Great for eating and reusing in salads, plus stock from the bones. Will serve with Brussels sprouts and glazed carrots, or mac-n-cheese if I run low on time.

Monday: Not Dogs?
Since we’re heading to a cookout, we may do one lighter meal on this Labor Day. There are great options for vegetarians and for anyone looking to balance their caloric consumption.

Hot Dog from The Pig with Ketchup, Mustard, and Relish

Tuesday: Veggie Chili
Breaking out the Red, Gold, and Green Veggie Chili here, in honor of the fall that finally feels like it’s on the way. Perfect to make ahead and eat for a while in different forms.

Veggie Chili Simmering

Wednesday: Salmon and Couscous
Light and simple, I think I’ll pan-roast this and serve with confetti veggie couscous (aka, use the last bits of diced veggie up from previous meals, shhh, don’t tell).

Orange Salmon, Broiled Asparagus, Accidental Butternut Bulgar

Thursday: Egg Sammies
If we’re short on time, the eggs will be scrambled or fried. More time = egg salad sammies. This was a favorite summer meal in my youth, and it’s fun to recapture a little of that feeling as we start the school year.

Eggs on their way to becoming egg salad.

Friday: Leftover DelightThe Eldest asked what this was, and I told her it was marketing. She got that. Friday is a clean-up hitter today. Prep for Saturday practice, recover from a week of early rising, gather around the table and enjoy.

Saturday: Dine Out!
We’re on the hunt for a new country to visit. All suggestions welcome!

What’s on your grill this season? Send ideas this way, post a comment or send a Tweet!

Gentle Readers, it’s that special time of year between the holiday cookie rush and physical fitness. Each year this is punctuated by my yearly cholesterol check. So chances are extremely high that I will clean up my Deep Fried habits. Tomorrow.

Blackberry Salad with Sweet Pecans and Mozzarella Cheese

I jest, I know it is time to focus again, and so I will eat salads and grapefruit and run more than usual to beat the odds.

Which means on this week’s menus we have:

Weekly Menus: 1/62013

The Four-Square Grocery List:

The Four-Square Grocery Shopping List: 1/6/2013

Translating into a reasonably healthy:

Sunday: Salmon and Veggies
I will have a fall-back plan, probably eggs, for the TPCs Junior. But I’m craving salmon, and listening.

Monday: Leftover Surprise
We’ve been rocking out the leftovers in the last couple of weeks, recommitting to not wasting food. It’s always a good challenge to use what’s on hand.

Tuesday: ??? Dine Out ???
This is scheduled to be our night out eating some culture’s cuisine with our favorite crankypants, Waldorf. The challenge is answering history and culture questions about the “country” in which we land. I’ll keep you posted.

Wednesday: Burgers and Fries
While at first glance this may not look like healthy living, it will probably be a combo of actual burgers and veggie burgers. We are hosting the handiman with the mostest, TPCs Dad, and that means beef is what’s for dinner. Food on a bun is an easy compromise. Plus the fries will be sweet potato, and there will be serious green veg on the side.

Thursday: Fake Chicken and Broccoli
Look for a full review on this one soon. We tested a new line of soy chicken (again, I don’t love meat replacement products, I prefer unadulterated ones, but this is transitional), and it was a huge hit. Even I’ll admit it was tasty. With broccoli and brown rice or noodles, it’s a quick weeknight dinner, and we’ve got a busy week.

Friday: Salad Bar!
We bought three kinds of salad greens (each of us has a preference), and this will be the last call to use up whatever has not been consumed during the week.

Saturday: Dine Out!
More field research is to be done! I’ve heard rumblings that a place I tested and disliked has improved, and there are several others untried in the area. As always, ping me with suggestions, I’m happy to try new spots!

Are you committing to good health in 2013? Any changes on the horizon? I’m still trying to walk the line between raising vegetarians and my own personal drive for protein. I do not want to raise pastatarians or cheesetarians. Sigh, onward and upward. Comment away!

Gentle Readers, the end of the year is nigh, and pork is in the air. Well, I am Southern, and that is a capital “S.” It just can’t be New Year’s Day without pork, greens, and black-eyed peas. This year we are going to experience this at scale, more on that later in the week.

Gentle Readers, it is not a well-kept secret that The Practical Cook is overly fond of food. As such, I’m naturally skeptical of any kind of diet craze. At a basic level, I don’t want to give up any category of food. Full respect for people who have found they live better by doing so and maintaining it.

Beef Filet Charring in Bacon Fat

But don’t look for me to go all Paleo or heaven forbid, no-fat. So while I do not judge, I will tell you this: even as a youngster during the height of the “Snackwell” craze, I thought that was crazy. How can foodless foods be satisfying?

The Practical Cook’s Ode to Fat: 3 Reasons to Love It

1. It fills you up. I’ve never understood eating certain things low or no-cal when the point of eating is fuel and being full. In my experience, avoiding this only leads to eating more.

Avocado sliced in the halfshell.

2. It’s necessary to live. I didn’t say you had to eat 3 meals a day at KFC, but stop thinking of fat as the enemy! You are not at war with it.

Sartori Salad with Apples and Pecans

3. It tastes good!!! I will fully admit being the person who eats the fat on steaks and chops when no one is looking. And sometimes when they are. It tastes like sunshine.

That is obviously not an exhaustive or even completely coherent list, but you get the drift. I eat a lot of salad, and I prefer olive oil and balsamic over commercial dressing, but I don’t skip the olive oil (or the egg when available). And before anyone heaps health advice on my head, know that while eating this way (again, see a lot of salad and exercise), I’ve dropped many many points off of my lipid panel.

Now is the time to come out of the closet. Raise your hands with me and proclaim your love for fat. The comment area is below, and the line forms here.

Gentle Readers, this week’s menus come to you full of jet-lag and fond memories of the West Coast. Whatever they do to salmon there makes it taste like flowers and sunshine. But I digress. I had my traditional recovery meal upon landing and waking back up: cereal. I really miss cereal when I travel.

Recovery Cereal

This week is a straightforward set of menus, let’s dive in, shall we? Weekly menus are as follows:

Weekly Menus: 5/13/2012

The Four-Square Grocery List:

The Four-Square Grocery Shopping List: 5/13/2012

The CSA from Brinkley Farms:

2 white stemmed boc choi

1 bag lettuce mix

1 bag arugala

1 bundle regular kale

1 bundle celery

And that all translates into:

Sunday: Leftovers!
We went out for Italian to celebrate the Youngest’s triumphant return to the ballet stage. The honoree almost fell asleep in her pesto. Many leftovers to be had.

The Juniors Celebrate Big Night Style

Monday: Italian?
This is an exciting turn of events. Waldorf is cooking for Team Practical Cook on location. How well do I share my kitchen? Let’s find out. I suspect the cuisine will be Italian, but a full report will be issued at some point.

Tuesday: Steak and Potato
There was a lot of steak talk last week, and now I’m craving one. Problem solved.

Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner
Probably omelet bar with either biscuits or corn cakes on the side. Potentially grits for the Youngest Practical Cook Junior.

Thursday: Salmon and Veggies
I’ll use whatever we get at the market, plus salmon. We need to eat more fish!

West Coast Salmon, Mexican Style

Friday: Beans and Rice
Don’t know the cuisine yet, but I’m feeling some comfort food in the works. Perhaps Peruvian.

Saturday: Dine Out!
There’s a spreadsheet of place I have yet to try. If it’s good, look for a restaurant review in the near future. Don’t hesitate to shout out some options. I keep a running list from anywhere and everywhere. Bacon and Fried Chicken get preferential seating, but anything you say is the “best ____ ever” will go on the list.

My Road Food Survival Kit

What food do you miss most when you are on the road? Post a comment below, or Tweet my way. I am going to brew up a spot of tea and relax for a bit longer.

Gentle Readers, with life’s hectic pace, and the winter months upon us, The Practical Cook must confess she did not go to the Farmer’s Market for a long time. Yesterday, driven by a cause (bacon), she went with the Juniors. Hog wild barely describes the scene. And that was just the Juniors. We came, we saw, we tasted and bought. We also learned.

Sing with me: "You're the inspiration!" (Bread, I Love You.)

If you haven’t located or visited your local Farmer’s Market lately, make a point of doing so. Interesting things are starting to happen again in most climates, and the baked goods are not to be missed. In fact, I’m so inspired, I’m making bread tomorrow. I have a partner in crime, though she doesn’t know it yet. Thanks CV Tall in advance.

Farmer's Market = Potential, my equivalent of mainlining

I’ve included my Farmer’s Market purchases on the grocery list, though retroactive, as proof that I don’t exist solely on bacon. Especially since, irony of ironies, I’ve gotten multiple requests for veggie recipes lately: salad, grains, etc. I am here for you. Look to the bottom of the post for the bonus recipe inspired by today’s shopping trip.

Without further delay, here is this week’s Weekly Menus:

Weekly Menus: 3/4/2012

And the Four-Square Grocery List (still very spartan, still trying to eat down my unfreakingbelievably large pantry warehouse + my assault on the Farmer’s Market = fresh veggie overload):

Four-Square Grocery Shopping List: 3/4/3012

Which translates into:

Sunday:Salmon and kale
I think I’ll do something orange-ish, as I have a few oranges lingering in the crisper drawer, and pair it with Quinoa or couscous salad (recipe research!)

Monday: Butterbeans, cornbread, and beets, et al TBD
I’m looking to do a serious veggie meal, as the Juniors are developing a bacon withdrawal problem.

Wednesday: Sausage and Chard
Of course, then we’ll eat more pig, but as part of a cassoulet-like dish, with white beans.

Thursday: Bacon and Egg Sammies with Salad
Maybe I’ll have nailed the homemade bread by this point . . .

Friday: Soup and Sammies!
I’ve got some beef stock I need to use, so it may be time for a French Onion soup of some stripe.

Saturday: Dine Out!
Field research is so necessary. I’m scoping some new spots, let’s see if I can gather a research team. Volunteers? Mission: Chinese.

Breakfast for Dinner: I almost forgot, I bought more grits too.

Bonus Recipe: Spinach Salad with Cherries, Pecans, and Goat Cheese

This is too obnoxiously easy to be a true recipe, but it permits me to lecture on what to keep in your pantry/fridge, so you’re salad-ready at all times.

baby spinach (don’t be without this, for real)
dried cherries
chopped pecans, lightly toasted
goat cheese, fresh is best and way less goaty
good quality Balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Combine in portions that work for you. My Youngest, a notoriously picky salad eater, literally wiped the plate with her spinach leaf. She would walk on hot rocks to get to goat cheese, so I crumbled a heftier portion on her salad. The basics here are sweet, crunchy, and salty. Spinach is a good salad back-up. It stays fresh longer in the fridge, is less bitter than some greens, and packs a serious nutritional punch. Keep dried fruit always. Raisins are good, but red dried fruit (cherries and cranberries) look more festive in salads. Nuts or seeds, also keep on hand. Of course, if you’re me or have a nut allergy, you can sub bacon bits. And though I’ve got both feta and goat cheese in the house, I find goat is way more versatile. If you hate it, go with feta, but you want creamy/salty here. It melds with the oil and vinegar. End of lecture. Salad on!

What are you eating between seasons? Post a comment with your meals or your cravings!

Gentle Readers, this week The Practical Cook was ready to accept a personal challenge. Excepting a very few fresh items, what could be made from what is at hand. You see, I do dearly love the grocery store. And sometimes I buy more than I should, or stockpile. This accumulates over time, and while I can make any one of 10 meals at any given time, I have to make those meals to deplete the inventory.

So this week is about not adding to the problem. What will I do? How will I adapt? Will this make me more grateful for the deep freezer or the fresh foods? Fear not, there are plenty of frozen veggies here at The Practical Cook Kitchen. So aside from the fresh fruit I bought today on my quest to buy 10 types of bacon, I’m buying milk.

Here’s proof, the Weekly Menus for this week:

Weekly Menus: 2/26/2012

And the very bare Four-Square Grocery Shopping List:

Four-Square Grocery Shopping List: 2/26/2012

Which means we’ll be eating:

Sunday: Dal and Rice
I have a cabinet full of both, time to man up and use them up.

Monday: Beef Stew
Slow cooker, meet my busy lifestyle. This takes some time in the morning, but it is low-fuss during crunch time. And you know what’s good in beef stew? Bacon, of which I have an abundance.

Tuesday: Leftovers
Perhaps I’ll combine meal one and meal two and put it in a tortilla.

Wednesday: Salmon and Greens
I have a wicked salmon craving right now, and the salmon I had last week was not 100% satisfying. Perhaps with some quinoa on the side?

Thursday: Sausage Surprise
I have sausage, and whatever else I put in there will be a surprise to even me. I’ll keep you posted. Probably some tomatoes, beans, and even a hint of chicken stock.

Friday: Bacon Squash Tart
This one needs to happen soon! I’m trying something new with puff pastry. We shall see what happens! If it fails, there’s always pasta.

Saturday: Dine Out!

Because if you’re like me, you have the added challenge of someone, ahem, bringing more food into your house when you leave town than gets eaten while you’re there! I only have one stomach you know who, and I’m not raising cattle.

Want to join me in the don’t buy much for a week challenge? What are your cupboard meals? Post a comment below! And there’s still time to vote for a favorite local bacon! Start filling out your brackets and taste testing, the results are coming for Bacon Brackets: Round 1 this week!